Firearm



July 15 1924.

J. w. FRENCH FIREARM Filed ot. 27. '19221 Patented July 15, 1924.

UNITED STATES lratisint JOHN W. FRENCH, 0F NEW ROCHELLE, NEW YORK.

FIREARM.

Application filed October 27, 1921.

To all whom t may cof/wem:

Be it known that I, JOHN W. FRENCH, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New Rochelle, in the county of Westchester and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Firearms, of which the following is a specication.

This invention deals with ordnance and has more special reference to an arrangement of auxiliary devices more p-articularly adapted to be used in connection with automatic rifles. The invention primarily affords a means for obtaining an accurate fire while marching, technically known as marching fire.

Marching fire forms one of the important phases of many field operations and with the development of the high powered, quick shooting rifles promises to become more important as time goes on. Up to the present, however, the efficiency of such type of fire has been rather low as compared with the number of shots fired and this has been due partly to the method of carrying the gun, that is on the hip, and partly due to the lack of a sighting arrangement for firing the gun with the butt `at a point other than the shoulder.

The riie most commonly used and primarily adapted of such type of fire is the Browning automatic and the present invention is more specially concerned with rendering this type of gun more effective. lt is to be understood that at the present time it is customary to support the stock of the Browning gun in a socket secured to the cartridge belt which is normally strapped around the waist, the socket being generally located at the right hip. The gun is fired from this position and the sighting secured by adjusting the gun in accordance with hits observed and making the necessary correction therefor. This sighting method is at the best but an approximation since it is impossible to hold the gun in any particular position for any length oftime while marching.

The present invention aims to increase the eiliciency of marching fire and this result has been obtained by strapping the cartridge belt usually supplied with, and forming part of the standard equipment of the Browning automatic rifle, around the body in a position slightly below the arm- Serial No. 510,872.

pits, the customary socket adapted to receive the butt of this type of rifle being located under the right armpit. It is to be understood that the present invention while primarily adapted to be used in connection with Browning automatic rifle and for the purpose of simplifying the specification is described in connection therewith, is not limited in its application to this particular type of gun but may be used with other types of guns and may even be advantageously used with other types of ordnance Where the eye level is necessarily above the gun barrel. The different possible applications of the present invention will readily suggest themselves to those skilled in the art.

irrespective of the particular type of ordnance with which the invention is used, a front sight is preferably arranged so that its sighting point is spaced from the gun barrel a sufficient distance to permit the gun being sighted with the eye some distance above the barrel. When the invention is applied to small arms it affords a means for sighting the gun when the stock is below the shoulder.

In the specic embodiment of the invention, as shown in the drawings, the front sight is hinged to a ring or collar which passes over the barrel and is rearwardly foldable so as to lie flat against the barrel when not in use, thereby permitting the ordinary sights to be quickly put into use.

While the presentinvention primarily resides in the provision of an elongated front sight, in its preferred form, it is contemplated utilizing a rear sight having its sighting point spaced from the barrel substantially the same distance as the front sight, the two sights in conjunction affording a line of sight parallel to the barrel but a sufficient distance above the barrel to permit the gun being fired from a point below the shoulder. It is to be understood that by carrying the sighting points up a suiiicient distance the gun might be fired from the hip in the manner in which the ordinary Browning automatic is fired at the present time, although as above indicated, it has been found more advantageous to fire the gun from below the armpit, the latter method having certain advantages in that the motion of the hips in marching is not imparted to the gun and the recoil of the gun is received on the shoulder and not on the hips as is the case where the gun is fired in the present manner, and hence there is no interference with the free motion of the legs in marching.

In order to illustrate the present invention in such a manner that the underlying principle will be readily understood by those skilled in the art, a drawing exemplifying the invention is annexed.

In said drawing:

Fig. 1. is a side elevat-ion of a Browning automatic rifle having the present invention applied thereto and showing the manner in which the riie is supported with the usual gun sling and cartridge belt.

Fig. 2. is an enlarged side elevation of a Browning automatic rifle having the invention applied thereto and showing by dot-ted lines the manner in which the sights may be dropped down when notI in use.

Fig. 3. is a section of Fig. 2 on the line 3 3.

Fig. 4. is a section of Fig. 2 on the line 4 4 and Fig. 5. is a modification of Fig. 4 partly shown in section.

Referring to the drawings, a rifle (specifically the Browning automatic rifle) is indicated in the entirety by A and comprises barrel A and stock B, the latter having secured thereto the usual gun sling C.

One phase of the present invention contemplates utilizing the gun sling C in a novel manner, that is as passing over the left shoulder of the infantryman. This particular method of arranging the gun sling ai'- fords a particularly effective way of supporting the rifle, leaving the hands free if desired during the iii-ing. While the above method will adequately support the gun without using the hands, nevertheless in the preerred form as illustrated in the drawings the sling is passed under the back of the left hand in the manner illustrated, the change in position of the gun being readily eected by changing the position of the left hand and thereby shortening or lengthening the gun sling and in effect controlling the pointing of the gun. Manifestly other means for readily controlling the length of the sling might be utilized, for example, a downwardly depending adjustable bracket might be secured to the bottom of the gun, the end of which might engage the sling and hold it down in the same manner as the back of the hand does in the illustrated embodiment. In order to adequately support the stock of the gun it has been found desirable to utilize the ordinary cartridge belt D, having the usual number of cartridge pouches secured thereto. This belt in the preferred manner of carrying out the invention is strapped around the body just below the armpits, with the socket E adapted to receive the gun stock B, located under the right armpit,

While the method of supporting the gun forms an important phase of the invention the provision of means to aii'ord an accurate line of sight is primarily the important feature of the invention and is not necessarily used in conjunction with the particular method oiz supporting the gun just described although it is preferably so used. The sighting arrangement comprehends, a front sight F, the sighting point F, of which is preterably spaced rom the barrel (about live or six inches when the gun is carried in the manner indicated.) It the gun is however supported at the hip, the length of the sight F will be correspondingly increased. While l a lront sight having its sighting point F spaced in the manner indicated will afford a marked increase in the efficiency oi' the fire it is contemplated, as above indicated of employing a rear sight as G, having a peep hole G spaced from the barrel a distance substantially, equal to the spacing of the point F, the peep hole G and point F providing a line of sight substantially parallel to the barrel but suiiiciently spaced therefrom so as to permit sighting olf the gun when the barrel is below the eye level.

In order that these sights may lie iiat against the barrel when not in use, each of them is preferably hinged, the front sight F being hinged at I-I and the rear sight at J, in such a manner that the front sight is rearwardly toldable and the rear sight forwardly foldable. In order to hold the sights in a vertical position when in use, each of the sights (when both a front and rear sight are used) are provided with clamping screws, the front sight F with a screw K and the rear sight with a screw L. Each of the sights are secured to the gun barrel in any convenient manner and as an example of the manner in which the sights may be secured, a yoke M is provided for the front sight F which passes around the barrel while a sliding detachable carriage N is arranged in the V shaped guides P to support the rear sight. The rear sight is shown in the present instance as a peep sight, although manifestly the usual rear leaf sight, having a sliding gauge, usually used on rifles specially adapted for sharpshooting, might be used and the use of such type of rear sight is intended to be included within the scope of the present invention.

As a modification of the front sight, the structure shown in Fig. 5 may be used. In this modification, the end of the stem V of the front sight has a vertical slot preferably rectangular in cross section and adapted to receive a sliding stem W also rectangular in cross section which carries the sighting point X at its upper end. While of course the cross section of the stem W and the groove might he of any ,shape it is evident that diiiidulty would.

be experienced in preserving the proper alignment of the point X wlth respect to the barrel, if the section were cylindrical unless the stem Wv were grooved, hence it is desirable to employ some other shape which will prevent rotation of the stem TW about its axis. In order to hold the stem W in vertically adjusted position, a set screw Y, preferably having a suitable milled edge, is adapted to bear 011 the stem W.

By loosening this set screw the adjustment of the point X with reference to the barrel may be effected. This adjustment is desirable inasmuch as it permits adjusting the sight for different types of men, thereby making the sighting more convenient.

Ordinarily the present invention aims to provide superimposed auxiliary sights for marching lire supplementing the usual sights found on the automatic gun. If desired, however, the front sight F might be provided with a sighting point as Z adapted to make an upstanding position when the front sight is folded in the manner indicated in Fig. 2 by dotted lines. `Whether or not the front sight is provided with a sighting point Z depends on personal preference and either form is intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus fully described my invention, I desire to sec-ure the following combinations and subcombinations by Letters Patent of the United States.

I claim:

l. The combination of a gun having a barrel having a pair of sights and a secondary sighting arrangement for marching lire consisting of amfpldable front sight located at the front end of@ b-arrel and a foldable rearsight located near the front end o`f'tli`ewgun `stock 'the sighting points being equally spaced from the barrel so that the gun may be sighted when the stock is carried below the armpit.

2. The combination with a gun barrel, of a plurality of foldable sights independently attached to the barrel each of which is spaced equally from the barrel a suiiicient distance to permit sighting the gun when the barrel level is considerably below the eye level.

3. The combination with a lire arm having a gun barrel, of a pair of foldable sights secured to the barrel, each of which is spaced equally from the barrel a suficient distance to permit sighting the gun when the gun stock is held under the arm pit of a marksman and a sling secured to the firearm adapted to support the iire arm from the shoulder of the marksman.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, this th day of October A. D. 1921.

JOHN W. FRENCH. lL. s.l 

